Photos in Mabul and Sipadan

My mum

The beautiful reef in Sipadan.

A Nudibranch.

An Emperor Shrimp found on a Sea Star.

Billabong resort.

Local children going to school.

The beautiful reef in Sipadan.

A group of Bat fishes.

Me and my family (without my dad) before a dive

A silhouette of me.

Crocodile fish

White Tip Shark

Diving in Sipadan

After our tiring journey on Mt. Kinabalu, me and my family went Sipadan- which was also in Malaysia. Sipadan is a small island which used to belong to Indonesia. Then something happened and the island belonged to Malaysia. We took a boat ride from Tawau to Mabul Island. Once we reached our resort (Billabong), we ate lunch and enjoyed our surroundings. The first dive was in Paradise 2.

Billabong is only a budget resort, however the resort is clean and served standard halal food plus free Milo ( chocolate drink), tea & coffee. The location of resort not far from village and a perfect location to watch sun set every day.

Cute kittens at Billabong

Paradise 2

This diving site is just off Billabong Resort. Me and my family saw one Nudibranch (they're really rare around Sipadan), a few Blennies and 4 Sea Turtles! I have never seen this much Sea Turtles when I dive. The max would probably one at a time. But these turtles are used to humans (I think so) that they are very brave. Me and my sister got close to one and she took a picture of me behind a turtle! Of course, Sipadan is famous for their amount of sea Turtles. where ever anyone dives, there'll be a turtle. We also saw Trigger fishes and Anemone fishes (no Nemo though). These fishes are quite common though, I see them every time when I go diving. In Paradise 2, there was a Crocodile fish and a numerous amount of Bat fishes- more than I've seen at one time.

Bat fish

Anemone clown fish

Paradise 2-> Paradise 1
This was half a night dive. Although, the main creature me, my family and some other people wanted to see was the Mandarin fishes. These amazing creatures are spectacular for the pattern on them. I have seen the Mandarin fish a couple times (in Lembeh- Indonesia). Compared to the Mandarin fishes I've seen before, these were small. We saw some Scorpion fishes, Anemone fishes, more Batfishes and a Nudibranch.

Barracuda Point-Sipadan
After the day we arrived, we went to the actual Sipadan Island. This was the best diving place I've ever been to. The corals were brightly coloured, the sun shining on them. The depth was not too deep (around 5m minimum) for the snorkelers to see. At Barracuda Point, there was supposed to be a huge group of Barracudas, but apparently they didn't show up. A friend of my dad, saw the Barracudas and took a video of them. There were hundreds swirling around like a hurricane. They were incredible. Me and my family were unfortunate to miss them. It was Sipadan though, and it's a happy island! Now, let's put aside the miserable things and move onto the creatures I saw.
There were Banner fishes, Bat fishes, Anemone fishes and the great Sea Turtles. To replace the missing Barracudas, the Jack fishes arrived, swimming around us. I love Barracuda Point because that was the first time I saw a shark- a beautiful White Tip Shark!

So close to a Sea Turtle!

Never been so close with shark !

Photos on Mount Kinabalu

Me and my sister, before we climbed Mt. Kinabalu.

The Great Mt. Kinabalu.

Me with the background of a sunset in Laban Rata.

My mum going down Mt. Kinabalu.

South Peak of Mt. Kinabalu.

Me and my sister going to Laban Rata.

Laban Rata.

Me and my mum at our stop point/highest point.

Climbing the Great Mt. Kinabalu

October 17th, 2010

Me and my family had one week to spend on an exciting holiday. We went to KK (Kota Kinabalu) to climb Mount Kinabalu, extended by going to Sipadan, one of the best dive sites in the world! I know, a very busy week- and very tiring too!

Me and my sister before the climb, at Kinabalu Park.

We first hiked through the the forest, sitting on rocks to rest. At the first hundred metre, there was a beautiful waterfall. I felt relaxed watching the water falling into a stream. I felt a little chilly from the splashes of water as it is fresh and cold from the mountains. There was huts that we passed through, resting at each one. We saw Ground Squirrels chirping and running around the forest ground.

A beautiful waterfall at the beginning of the climb.

When we had breakfast, we were given each a set of meal (for lunch and snack) in a bag. We had apple ( for our healthy snack), a drumstick, rice and a bottle of fresh water. We all had lunch at Layang-Layang Hut, which was half way to Laban Rata (our resting place). The toilets were disgusting, but clean enough to be used.

Untreated water at the huts.

After the Layang-Layang Hut, the path began to be more challenging. We climbed orange rocks which reminds me of the desert- not that I've been to one.There were more of these orange rocks as we got higher.

Me and my sister sitting on rocks. (My sister was actually half asleep :D )

We reached Laban Rata in 7 exhausting hours. Me and my family shared a room with these Japanese tourists. In our room, there were4 bunk beds, making a total of 8 beds. The dining hall was at the bottom, with the reception. The sunset at Laban Rata was amazing, I couldn't believe my eyes! The sun was huge as if it was right in front of me. Whilst I stood on the balcony, I could see the slope of the mountain as well.

Me with the background of Laban Rata and Mt. Kinabalu.

The next day, we all woke up at 2am, got dressed and ate breakfast. Once we finished (3.30am), we continued our climb. Me and my sister were very dizzy, so we stopped, sat and rested on rocks. This problem was caused by the high altitude.

Unfortunately, the summit was closed at around 7.45am, and we were still far away from it. I was disappointed that we didn't reach the top after all the hard and exhausting work. Although, we stopped at a point where the view was amazing...

Me at our stop point.

The lights of the houses' were on, as if they were fireflies in a dark night. Lightning lit up the sky as well, though they were far away from us- phew! The houses were bright, looking like yellow dots from the mountain. I wish I could reach the top, but I was still impressed with myself, as well as disappointed. After all, that was my first time climbing a real mountain.

Once we were satisfied with where we left off, we started to walk back to Laban Rata. I didn't feel well and I threw up a little. As I went down, I looked around my surroundings, trying to keep them in my memory; the trees swaying in the cold breeze, greenery all around, and me breathing fresh air. As soon as we got to Laban Rata, I took off my jacket and slept!

My mum going down Mt Kinabalu using a rope.

A few hours later, me and my family decided to check out off our room and get going...

Walking down the mountain was extremely easier- and took less effort! I was in front of my family, since I was going faster than them, but soon my sister caught up with me when I was waiting for my family under one of the huts. As me and my sister walked down the mountain, through the forest part, on flat ground, we told each other jokes etc. My dad and my mum, with the guides didn't catch up with us, so we reached the starting point first. We ate noodles, and had sprite for our drink.

Later on, my dad and my mum, with the guide came and we set off back to the park, for lunch!

After we finished our meal, me and my family set back off on the road and had a rest at Dragon Inn for a night, then caught a flight that is going to Tawau!

(See more pictures of Mount Kinabalu, on "Pictures of Mount Kinabalu.)

(Read my story Sipadan, to continue this journey.)

Anilao-Philippines

Me and my family had only one week to spend the holiday this time, and we spent it in Anilao-which is in Philippines! It took us two hours to get to Manila first, then three hours (by car) to Anilau. Together, it took us five hours to get to Anilau and back to Brunei. It was pretty long, but it was also worth it!

In Anilao, we stayed at Arthur's Place and it was good!

The foods tasted delicious; the atmosphere was beautiful; the people were very friendly; they took us to amazing dive sites and what I really liked about it here, was that the resort was very quiet in the weekdays!

Day 1

We arrived at Arthur's Place around midnight on Friday. It was dark, so it was hard to see things. We all slept pretty well though!

Day 2

On Saturday, we all had two amazing dives and it was really good for a start! In Anilau, you can never ever say it is boring!

Dive 1-Koala

My dad had this old camera with an underwater casing. I was allowed to bring it for all the dives! It was fun! My pictures wasn't really good, like my sister's and my dad's, but I guess it's okay for a beginner like me.

Anyway, me and my family saw a couple of Eels, loads of Nudis, some Trigger fish and one or two Blue-Spotted Stingray! We also saw Nemo & his family group, quite a lot of Lion fishes, a Flabellina and lots of Christmas Tree Worms!

Dive 2-Secret Bay

We were supposed to go to Twin Rocks, but unfortunately the current was too strong!

The Urchins were so pretty just like the Nudis we saw there! We also saw a really small juv. Box fish-so cute! There were some Lion fishes too; either

Scorpion/Leaf/Wasp fish; a Crab that I don't really have a clue what it's called; Blenny in a shell and Shrimp in a broken bottle! We also saw a File fish, some Nudis (we also saw this giant Nudi!), one or two Octopus', Pipe fishes, Sexy Shrimps-I like to call it Wiggly Shrimps, Tube Worms, some more Crab and a few Trumpet fishes! So for exchange, we went to Secret Bay. The sand was 'black sand', it was pretty sandy with particles of rocks.

Day 3

On Sunday, we had three dives!

Dive 1-Twin Rocks

Our guide brought a slice of bread for that dive, but I wasn't allowed to feed the fishes because they were too ferocious! Anyway, we saw big groups of Jack fishes; Trigger fishes; loads of colourful fishes; Nemo & his family group; Trumpet fishes; a few Giant Clams; one or two Scorpion fishes; greedy fishes (inc. Bat fishes); groups of Barracudas; a juv. Sweetlip; a small wreck; Squirrel fishes; Mantis Shrimps; Flabellina; Lion fishes; Eels and other common fishes.

Dive 2-Secret Bay

We went to Secret Bay again because we liked it!

Me and my family saw Flounders, loads of Mantis Shrimps, two Octopus'-one free and the other one in a shell, a SEAHORSE (which I found)-first time seeing a 'normal-sized' Seahorse, Blenny in a shell,again, Shrimp in a bottle, again, Wiggly Shrimps in anemones, a Cow fish and a tiny Black Frog fish!

Dive 3-Arthur's Rock

Arthur's Rock is Arthur's Place House Reef and it was really nice! We didn't really see as much as in Twin Rocks, but I thought it was good enough for me and my family!

We saw a couple of Eels, a Box fish or two, Trumpet fishes, Nemo & his family group, some Nudis, Wiggly Shrimps, Mantis Shrims, a Cuttle fish, a few Sea Cucumber and a group of Cat fishes for last!

Day 4

On the 31st of May was my dad's birthday, so I wished that the dives on Sunday would be fabulous!

Dive 1-Twin Rocks

That day, my sister was sick(a bad start) and she didn't went diving. So my parents said that I could use my sister's camera!

In Twin Rocks we saw a group of Cat fishes, big groups of Jack fishes, some Nudis, Octopus', Shrimps, Nemo & his family group, Bat fishes, Giant Clams, Trumpet fishes and we also saw this faded-black coloured fish eating a shrimp!

Dive 2-Mainit

Dive 2 on Sunday was a little bit better than the dive before.

We saw a Box fish, some Lion fishes, Nudis (of course), Pipe fishes, juv. Sweetlips, Christmas Tree worms, Scorpion fishes and a Frog fish! I also saw this small (cute) white fish with an orange stripe over its head-like a bandana! I don't what the fish is called, but I thought that it was a cool fish!

Dive 3-NDS (I don't know what it stands for)

Fortunately and unfortunately, my sister felt better and she was able to dive on the third one- that means I can't use her camera!!!!

In NDS, we saw Trigger fishes, Nudis, Lion fishes, a group of Barracuda, Stingray, Cat fishes and other common fishes.

Day 5

On Day 5, we only went for two dives because we were pretty tired!

Dive 1-Kirby's Reef

In Kirbys, the diving there is like going across this gigantic (rock) wall! 'The wall' has LOADS of healthy and beautiful corals-which meant lots of fishes! We had a brilliant time there, and it was just gorgeous! The wall was around 20-25m deep (too deep for me!) so we had to 'float around' at about 12m.

Since there were quite a lot of 'uncovered' parts of the wall, there were lots of Scorpion fishes! They were like here, and there and everywhere! Of course, there were also lots and lots of Nudis! Most of them were these yellow squishy-looking ones.

We also saw some Trumpet fishes, quite a few of Lion fishes, one or two Box fishes, Nemo's family group, and we also saw millions and millions (just exaggerating) of Eels! My dad and my mum saw two Eels fighting for a hole! Later then, we saw two Octopus' but one of them were hiding in a hole. When we were just swimming by, hiding on a blue coral was..... a BIG Blue Frog fish!!!!! I have to say, it was pretty amazing, but I think in Lembeh (Indonesia) me and my dad saw a BIGGER Yellow Frog fish-cool right? At the end, when we were doing our safety stop (3 minutes), under an anemone (with Clark's Anemone fish) I saw a crab! It was white with bit of orange (I think). I had a feeling it was a Porcelain Crab, but I wasn't sure!

Dive 2-Bethlehem

The dive site Bethlehen is near a village. The water wasn't that busy so it was okay to dive in. When we were waiting for our surface time (1 hour), me and my family saw this tree with these red leaves/flower all over them! It was so outstanding- just like our dive!

Underwater, we saw a juv. Sweetlips, Nemo's family, loads of shrimps, a group of Rigid Shrimp fish, some Nudis and a couple of baby Eels! They were swimming around in this anemone, so cute! What's so weird is that their colour is white! They're babies though! Anyway, we also saw a few sea Cucumbers, a BIG Puffer fish, a Trumpet fish, some Triggers, about two Porcupine fishes, an Octopus my sister couldn't take a photo of, quite a few of Scorpion fishes and we saw this HUGE Sponge Barrel! I bet I could fit in it! This huge Sponge Barrel was surrounded by beautiful corals- a good way of 'beautifying' a Sponge Barrel!

Just when we were diving about, we saw some pink Nudi Eggs! We saw 2 'groups' of it! The Nudi Eggs were neatly set by making them go on top of the other, until a certain height, and swirling around like a Spanish Dancer!

Day 6

We had three dives on Day 6 and I was really excited! We went to this island and underwater was really cool!

Dive 1- Sombrero Island: Coral Garden

In this dive site, we didn't really see very interesting creatures, but we did saw this beautiful scenery!

There were loads of gorgeous corals (very healthy) which meant lots of fishes- and there were! We all couldn't believe what we saw in Coral Garden. It was like an underwater heaven! Lots and lots of fishes were around! Unfortunately, there were also quite a lot of Stinging Hydroid! Luckily, I didn't get stung, but my dad and my mum did! Anyway, we also saw lots of Nudis, and a couple of Puffer fishes-they remind me of my cat (Puffer)! Everywhere, and literally everywhere, there were these small red fishes! They make a really good photo, though my sister doesn't like them unless they are all swimming in the same way!

My mum told me that she saw these Lizard fishes eating a small Red fish-awesome right! When my mum wrote that on my underwater writing pad, I was really excited to see if I can find a Lizard fish eating a Red fish. So then I waited every time I saw I Lizard fish, just 'sitting' on a rock or something. Apperently, they don't like me (or they're just not hungry-but I didn't really think so) because every single time, I just 'hovered' as still as I could, but they just don't do anything-even when I tried to get a small group of Red fishes close by! Soon I gave up, it was just so frustrating!

Just at the end of the dive, I saw this Scorpion fish clinging to this fan coral-weird! My dad got a photo of if it, but I bet it was really hard to get one, because there was a current!

Anyway, I really liked that dive site. I love how the small Red fishes really fit in with where they were, though it wasn't like they camouflaged themselves with the background! Sombrero Island: Coral Garden is no. 2 in may favourite dive sites in Anilau! So I would love to come there again some time!

Dive 2-Layag-Layag

The dive site Layag-Layag was close to Sombrero Island: Coral Garden, so I was expecting that Layag-Layag is a little bit like Sombrero Island: Coral Garden- and I was kinda of right!

In Layag-Layag, we saw loads of Trigger fishes, some Shrimps and one or two Moray Eels. The sight there were beautiful, just like in Sombrero Island! There were also loads of these small fishes (like in Sombrero Island), but instead of it being fully red, it was slightly blueish! They make a good creature there!

Again, my mum wrote on my pad, saying that she saw some Lizard fishes eating these small black and red-blueish fishes. And again I waited for some action, but nothing happened!

In Layag-Layag, we also saw this pair of Nudis mating! Both Nudis looked really pretty!

Dive 3-Twin Rocks

Our guide decided to take us to Twin Rocks again. He probably know that we all like Twin Rocks!

What we saw was basically the same creatures as before. But the following would be my favourite creatures in Twin rocks!

My favourite were the groups of Jack fishes (I just think they're really cool), the group of Barracudas (Barracudas look awesome because of their sharp teeth), Bat fishes (they were every where and they weren't afraid to get close to humans), Nudis (I love the pattern on their backs), Giant Clams (the inside of their mouth is so pretty), Shrimps (their cool), Trigger fishes (I like it how they have this clear wiggly fin) and Nemo and his family (they're so cute).

Day 7 LAST DAY:(

Unfortunately, it was the last day! I will miss diving for a few months!

Dive 1- Basura

We were supposed to dive in Cathedral (there's the Christian cross at the bottom), but the current was too strong. We didn't want to not dive at all, so instead we went to Basura. I didn't really like Basura because it was mostly rubbish. The diving was like in Secret Bay, just a little bit worse.

Anyway, in Basura we saw lots of colourful Lion fishes, a few Scorpion fishes, some shrimps (including Wiggly Shrimps) on anemones and Clark's Anemone fish. We didn't really see much Nudis, so that was quite a shame. Although, there was no current at all, so that was good!

Breakfast:

We had breakfast at this resort! I bet the resort cost a lot, because it has these birds and they have this pool with sharks and other fishes! Anyway, we had breakfast there and it cost 6x more than we had expected! Luckily, the cost of the breakfast includes swimming in the pool of sharks and the other fishes! It was so cool! The sharks were pretty small and they were called the Black Tip Reef Shark. I have never swam with sharks before except in Langkawi (Malaysia)!

The water of the pool was green and murky, so it was very hard to see. It was raining hard so the water was pretty warm! In the pool, there were some big Groupers, of course Sharks, tiny fishes, Bat fishes and a few common fishes!

We were going to dive at Eagle Point (the dive site in front of the expensive resort), but since the wind and the rain was really hard, the waves were big too! We had a few difficulties going on to the boat, but soon we managed to get on!

When we reached back at the resort, our guide suggested us to go to Secret Bay for our last dive. He said that there would be no current and there would hardly be any waves, just some probably from boats!

Last Dive- Secret Bay

I was a bit disappointed that we had to go to Secret Bay again for our last dive- but at least we could go diving!

We started from shore, so it was a lot easier for me to put my BCD on!

Just when we were around 2-4m deep, I found this 'group' of orange Nudi Eggs! It was under this big thin square-ish wood (good hiding place mother Nudi!). Later then, I saw this whole LOT of Nudis! The colour was grey-ish and the were at this blot area! It was the most disgusting underwater sight ever! I tried showing my dad, but he was already too far from me! I didn't want to spend one more second over there that time, so I left all the Nudis alone!

I saw a Flounder, and I got time to look at it closely. What was strange about Flounders (now that I've found out), is that either their eyes or mouth is the wrong way round! It looked so weird!

There were quite a lot of Lion fishes and only a few Scorpion fishes on the sand. I don't really like them as much as before anymore, so I didn't really care much about them! Also, there were lots of Mantis Shrimps!

When I was going to my guide (quite quickly), I had to stop because I saw a Seahorse-again! I was really excited so I banged my tank with my stick! A few minutes later, our guide found another Seahorse! Instead, it was bigger and a little bit fatter! It had a pattern too that time, but the Seahorse was quite dirty!

At Secret Bay, we also saw some Octopus'! We either saw 3 or 4 of them! All I know was that one of the Octopus' were swimming around, another one was squished in a shell and another was in a bottle! Amazing right?

Unfortunately, that was all for the last day! I was pretty amazed though! I love Anilao and I would love to come there again! There are still some dive sites in Asia me and my family hasn't to explored though, so it might be a while! If you go to Anilao, don't change your mind and go to Arthur's Place because it's both cheap and really good! So bye-bye Anilao, hope to go back there again sometime!

My week has finished, and now, I am looking forward to my next journey!

The pictures were either taken by may sister or my dad.